Bad attitude is sour milk
By D. Murali
Dinner at home can be a great ritual during which you can learn business and life lessons, says Jeffrey J. Fox in ‘How to Get to the Top’ (www.landmarkonthenet.com).
That “you can’t unsour the milk” is one such lesson. “You can’t go back in time. You can’t prevent what has already happened… And you can’t quit,” explains the author. “You must counterpunch. Do not waste time bemoaning your troubles.”
An example of sour milk is bad attitude, as with some employees, he says. “It is hard, if not impossible to fix,” frets Fox. “Part ways, and go forward.”
Another ‘family’ lesson is to gain confidence by acting like you own the place. “When you walk into the office, into a meeting, onto the stage, act like you own the place. Act as if you are in your complete comfort zone.” That way you are more likely to be ‘at ease, calm, courteous’ rather than be arrogant, says Fox.
Avoid the phrase ‘unintended consequences,’ he counsels, because the buzzword can be used for dodging responsibility. It is “a deflection, a diversion, a glib ploy masquerading as some kind of management reality,” cautions Fox. “Consequences may be unintended, but they are rarely unforeseeable.” So, neither use the excuse nor accept it!
Working on fixing weaknesses is a time-killer, like trying to ‘teach the quarterback to catch’. Instead, work on strengths, because that is where the money is, Fox exhorts. “If you are good at something, if your associates are good at something, work to make that something even better.”
For instance, helping the brilliant but brusque engineer better ‘relate’ to her associates is a typical management diversion, he says. “Forget about it. If she can’t relate, but she can invent and design, hide her someplace where she can pound out inventions and designs.”
Your place of business is for business, he reminds, because nonbusiness leads to no business! “If you do business in a public place, don’t use your place of business to publicise your politics, your political party, your burning causes.” Similarly, customers don’t care if you adore the same sports team as they do.
“Customers only care about you solving their problems and fulfilling their needs in a highly satisfactory way.”
For residual income,visit: www.kannanviswagandhi.com
for self development,visit: http://www.growing-self.blogspot.com
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
A CEO who got his job in Craigslist
A CEO who got his job on Craigslist
Jim Buckmaster, the programmer-turned-CEO of online classified-ad site Craigslist answers your questions and a few of our own.
By Matthew Boyle, Fortune writer
(Fortune Magazine) -- With 450 sites in 50 countries, Craigslist is the undisputed leader in online classifieds, despite a stubbornly anticapitalist culture. Fortune's Matthew Boyle took your questions to Buckmaster, 44, to learn what's happening at the Web site that's rocked the ad world and transformed the way we clean our garage.
When and what was your first transaction on Craigslist? --Elma Kim, Los Angeles
A friend told me about Craigslist. In late 1999, I put my résumé up on it, and founder Craig Newmark saw it and invited me in for an interview. I was hired as lead programmer.
What advice would you give to a budding web entrepreneur? --Vish Ravishankhar, Chandler, Ariz.
Web ventures are best run by techies. Keep things simple. Be patient. Focus on user feedback. Don't take outside money if you can do without it.
How have you overcome any adversities that have been thrown at you during your career? --Jason Hopkins, Newark, Ohio
I kept quitting in the face of adversity until I found something I loved doing, after which point all obstacles became surmountable. I quit medical school and a few jobs. If you're in a job you don't like, almost anything can seem insurmountable. Conversely, if you are in a job you like, obstacles start to look small. At Craigslist it feels like we're doing something positive for society.
If you didn't work at Craigslist, what else would you be doing careerwise? --Joe Talarico, Lewiston, N.Y.
I would be building a platform for user-generated governance (UGG) as a replacement for our flailing "dot-gov" sector. It's utterly divorced from serving the public. Or maybe I'd take a year off and go backpacking.
At some point, doesn't Craigslist have to be more aggressive about scaling revenues? I understand you're small, nimble and profitable, but your business is pretty easily duplicated. Or do you think you can sustain your business based on user loyalty? --Aaron Letscher, New York City
Financial metrics aren't something we focus on; they're a pleasant side effect if we manage to do a good job by our users. We track page views to measure the usage of the site. We also look at the number of thank-you notes from users who have found their entire lives on our site - from spouse to house, job, furnishings, cat, dog, friends and a social life.
Do you plan to make Craigslist a public company? --Nixon Correia, Newton, Mass.
No. It seems like a lot more trouble than it's worth. We're having too much fun to exit, but we will go quietly when the nanobots are ready to assume control.
What is your attitude toward the seedier side of Craigslist - the often explicit personal ads seeking casual sex? Do you see this as an integral part of the business, or as an embarrassment? --Andrew Clark, New York City
Craigslist users are pretty sophisticated and don't tend to view sexual relations between consenting adults as seedy, at least compared to what goes on in the White House and Congress or the boardrooms of many large corporations.
Are there any plans to expand the real estate section of Craigslist and target the broker listings now on Multiple Listing Systems (MLS)? --Matthew Shields, Scottsdale
We don't go out of our way to target new businesses; our hands are full right now handling user requests. We'll add more cities soon, as there are lots of requests coming in. We are also working on creating local language pages. And although our hope is to always remain a small company, we are actively looking for more good techies.
How do you generate excitement and awareness about Craigslist in a city like Stockholm, where most people don't know about it? --Jacqueline Fabius, Stockholm
We've relied exclusively on word of mouth. I hear, though, that Stockholm is very nice; perhaps I should go and drum up interest personally.
What part of Craigslist gets the highest traffic? Does it change depending on the city? --Yury Pishchik, Boston
Our "for sale" section has the highest traffic, followed by housing, jobs and personals. Our busiest cities are San Francisco, New York, L.A. and Seattle. Our New Orleans site took off after Katrina. Usage went up by 100 percent overnight. Initially the site was used to find missing persons. Then ride sharing. And later thousands of offers of employment came in from all over the U.S. to help the victims.
Where do you see Craigslist in five or ten years? --Nishi Viswanathan, Austin
I would expect lots more of the same, plus incremental improvements based on user requests. In ten years we may be approaching the Singularity [a state when machines become smarter than humans], in which case all bets are off.
After focusing its online classified efforts outside the U.S. for the past few years, eBay just launched a U.S. version of its Kijiji service, which is very much like Craigslist. How will you handle this new competition?
We operate with a public-service mentality such that we don't think in terms of competition. That really saves me a lot of grief. During the dot-com boom, we were derided for our noncompetitive approach, but of the hundreds of Web companies founded between 1995 and 2000, we're one of only a handful that survived and prospered.
Doesn't eBay's 25 percent equity stake in Craigslist pose a potential conflict?
Those issues are obviously a concern, but our first instinct is to trust eBay to take the high road.
What are the most bizarre objects or services sold on the site?
That depends on what you find bizarre, but husband-for-hire - the person meant everything but the sex - pet astrology and spare parts for a time machine struck me as odd. There are lots of funny ones in our best-of section on the Web site.
What other Silicon Valley startups interest you, and why?
Tesla Motors. Electric cars seem like a great way to address our energy woes, since we have so much excess overnight generating capacity.
Have you bought or sold anything on Craigslist lately?
I recently bought a Blackberry 7280, which is a discontinued model that has the lowest SAR [specific absorption rate, the rate at which radio-frequency energy is absorbed by the body] of any cell phone.
What interests or hobbies do you have outside work?
Each year [my companion] Susan and I spend a week out of cell phone coverage with friends and an ostrich named Huey on an organic farm called Emandal on the Eel River in Mendocino County.
Want residual income,visit: http://www.kannanviswagandhi.com/
For self development,visit: http://www.growing-self.blogspot.com/
Jim Buckmaster, the programmer-turned-CEO of online classified-ad site Craigslist answers your questions and a few of our own.
By Matthew Boyle, Fortune writer
(Fortune Magazine) -- With 450 sites in 50 countries, Craigslist is the undisputed leader in online classifieds, despite a stubbornly anticapitalist culture. Fortune's Matthew Boyle took your questions to Buckmaster, 44, to learn what's happening at the Web site that's rocked the ad world and transformed the way we clean our garage.
When and what was your first transaction on Craigslist? --Elma Kim, Los Angeles
A friend told me about Craigslist. In late 1999, I put my résumé up on it, and founder Craig Newmark saw it and invited me in for an interview. I was hired as lead programmer.
What advice would you give to a budding web entrepreneur? --Vish Ravishankhar, Chandler, Ariz.
Web ventures are best run by techies. Keep things simple. Be patient. Focus on user feedback. Don't take outside money if you can do without it.
How have you overcome any adversities that have been thrown at you during your career? --Jason Hopkins, Newark, Ohio
I kept quitting in the face of adversity until I found something I loved doing, after which point all obstacles became surmountable. I quit medical school and a few jobs. If you're in a job you don't like, almost anything can seem insurmountable. Conversely, if you are in a job you like, obstacles start to look small. At Craigslist it feels like we're doing something positive for society.
If you didn't work at Craigslist, what else would you be doing careerwise? --Joe Talarico, Lewiston, N.Y.
I would be building a platform for user-generated governance (UGG) as a replacement for our flailing "dot-gov" sector. It's utterly divorced from serving the public. Or maybe I'd take a year off and go backpacking.
At some point, doesn't Craigslist have to be more aggressive about scaling revenues? I understand you're small, nimble and profitable, but your business is pretty easily duplicated. Or do you think you can sustain your business based on user loyalty? --Aaron Letscher, New York City
Financial metrics aren't something we focus on; they're a pleasant side effect if we manage to do a good job by our users. We track page views to measure the usage of the site. We also look at the number of thank-you notes from users who have found their entire lives on our site - from spouse to house, job, furnishings, cat, dog, friends and a social life.
Do you plan to make Craigslist a public company? --Nixon Correia, Newton, Mass.
No. It seems like a lot more trouble than it's worth. We're having too much fun to exit, but we will go quietly when the nanobots are ready to assume control.
What is your attitude toward the seedier side of Craigslist - the often explicit personal ads seeking casual sex? Do you see this as an integral part of the business, or as an embarrassment? --Andrew Clark, New York City
Craigslist users are pretty sophisticated and don't tend to view sexual relations between consenting adults as seedy, at least compared to what goes on in the White House and Congress or the boardrooms of many large corporations.
Are there any plans to expand the real estate section of Craigslist and target the broker listings now on Multiple Listing Systems (MLS)? --Matthew Shields, Scottsdale
We don't go out of our way to target new businesses; our hands are full right now handling user requests. We'll add more cities soon, as there are lots of requests coming in. We are also working on creating local language pages. And although our hope is to always remain a small company, we are actively looking for more good techies.
How do you generate excitement and awareness about Craigslist in a city like Stockholm, where most people don't know about it? --Jacqueline Fabius, Stockholm
We've relied exclusively on word of mouth. I hear, though, that Stockholm is very nice; perhaps I should go and drum up interest personally.
What part of Craigslist gets the highest traffic? Does it change depending on the city? --Yury Pishchik, Boston
Our "for sale" section has the highest traffic, followed by housing, jobs and personals. Our busiest cities are San Francisco, New York, L.A. and Seattle. Our New Orleans site took off after Katrina. Usage went up by 100 percent overnight. Initially the site was used to find missing persons. Then ride sharing. And later thousands of offers of employment came in from all over the U.S. to help the victims.
Where do you see Craigslist in five or ten years? --Nishi Viswanathan, Austin
I would expect lots more of the same, plus incremental improvements based on user requests. In ten years we may be approaching the Singularity [a state when machines become smarter than humans], in which case all bets are off.
After focusing its online classified efforts outside the U.S. for the past few years, eBay just launched a U.S. version of its Kijiji service, which is very much like Craigslist. How will you handle this new competition?
We operate with a public-service mentality such that we don't think in terms of competition. That really saves me a lot of grief. During the dot-com boom, we were derided for our noncompetitive approach, but of the hundreds of Web companies founded between 1995 and 2000, we're one of only a handful that survived and prospered.
Doesn't eBay's 25 percent equity stake in Craigslist pose a potential conflict?
Those issues are obviously a concern, but our first instinct is to trust eBay to take the high road.
What are the most bizarre objects or services sold on the site?
That depends on what you find bizarre, but husband-for-hire - the person meant everything but the sex - pet astrology and spare parts for a time machine struck me as odd. There are lots of funny ones in our best-of section on the Web site.
What other Silicon Valley startups interest you, and why?
Tesla Motors. Electric cars seem like a great way to address our energy woes, since we have so much excess overnight generating capacity.
Have you bought or sold anything on Craigslist lately?
I recently bought a Blackberry 7280, which is a discontinued model that has the lowest SAR [specific absorption rate, the rate at which radio-frequency energy is absorbed by the body] of any cell phone.
What interests or hobbies do you have outside work?
Each year [my companion] Susan and I spend a week out of cell phone coverage with friends and an ostrich named Huey on an organic farm called Emandal on the Eel River in Mendocino County.
Want residual income,visit: http://www.kannanviswagandhi.com/
For self development,visit: http://www.growing-self.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Want to be an entrepreneur?
Dreaming about entrepreneurship? Get set financially
By Srikala Bhashyam
Entrepreneurs often are born rather than made. With Indian economy looking more global than ever before, this desire of entrepreneurship has caught on with many. If you are wondering why we are discussing entrepreneurship in these columns, it is again got to do with money.
Surely, you need more money as an entrepreneur than as an employee. More importantly, you need to be financially prepared besides zeroing on the right business plan. Here are some tips for all those budding entrepreneurs who are dreaming about creating their own enterprise at a later date.
Get disciplined: The basic requirement for an entrepreneur is to be more disciplined with his finances. As you are aware, when you jump into entrepreneurship, you may not have the luxury of regular cash flow in the early days and hence, one needs to get a fix on expenditure before jumping into creating a start-up.
That would mean, an individual who dreams about getting started on his own should have a clear idea of his financial needs.
While it is important to define the short term cash needs, it is much easier to define long term financial needs which range from property to children’s education. The challenge is to set aside savings for short term needs.
In reality, most entrepreneurs end up setting aside more than necessary for their short term needs. For instance, Ramesh, a consultant, makes it a point to keep two years of his business expenditure in his current account!
That surely is not the best investment option as current account does not earn any interest. It helps a great deal when entrepreneurs clearly know their monthly cash needs and ideally, one should set aside two months of such expenses in highly liquid form. This could be in the form of savings balance or even in a liquid fund.
Planning for long term finance is a lot easier simply because time is available. Those who jump into entrepreneurship after a stint as employee can use their long term savings such as provident fund and gratuity for long term expenses.
For instance, the money drawn from these accounts should be aside in long term products such as post office monthly income plans or fixed deposits. I wouldn’t recommend too much of equity allocation for such funds because it is better to allocate them in low risk products till you attain financial comfort.
Besides FDs, even monthly income plans or balanced funds can be another option. When the corpus is huge, it is not a bad idea to allocate a portion of this corpus towards an insurance product. This will also ensure economic comfort to the family in the event of any eventuality.
The PF and gratuity corpus can also be used to supplement your monthly cash flow. Two products – monthly income plans or systematic withdrawals can meet this requirement.
While monthly income plans provide annual returns of 10-14%, systematic withdrawals allow you to withdraw a fixed sum on a monthly basis.
For the later, the corpus needs to be slightly large. For instance, an investment of Rs 25 lakhs invested in a balanced fund can allow an investor to withdraw Rs 10,000-20,000 on a monthly basis besides providing capital appreciation.
In the initial years of entrepreneurship, this can come in handy when the business fails to generate the required cash flow for your personal needs.
Srikala Bhashyam is a financial journalist with 13 years of experience across financial publications. The author can be contacted at srikala.bhashyam@gmail.com
want to earn residual income,visit: www.kannanviswagandhi.com
for self development,visit: http://www.growing-self.blogspot.com
By Srikala Bhashyam
Entrepreneurs often are born rather than made. With Indian economy looking more global than ever before, this desire of entrepreneurship has caught on with many. If you are wondering why we are discussing entrepreneurship in these columns, it is again got to do with money.
Surely, you need more money as an entrepreneur than as an employee. More importantly, you need to be financially prepared besides zeroing on the right business plan. Here are some tips for all those budding entrepreneurs who are dreaming about creating their own enterprise at a later date.
Get disciplined: The basic requirement for an entrepreneur is to be more disciplined with his finances. As you are aware, when you jump into entrepreneurship, you may not have the luxury of regular cash flow in the early days and hence, one needs to get a fix on expenditure before jumping into creating a start-up.
That would mean, an individual who dreams about getting started on his own should have a clear idea of his financial needs.
While it is important to define the short term cash needs, it is much easier to define long term financial needs which range from property to children’s education. The challenge is to set aside savings for short term needs.
In reality, most entrepreneurs end up setting aside more than necessary for their short term needs. For instance, Ramesh, a consultant, makes it a point to keep two years of his business expenditure in his current account!
That surely is not the best investment option as current account does not earn any interest. It helps a great deal when entrepreneurs clearly know their monthly cash needs and ideally, one should set aside two months of such expenses in highly liquid form. This could be in the form of savings balance or even in a liquid fund.
Planning for long term finance is a lot easier simply because time is available. Those who jump into entrepreneurship after a stint as employee can use their long term savings such as provident fund and gratuity for long term expenses.
For instance, the money drawn from these accounts should be aside in long term products such as post office monthly income plans or fixed deposits. I wouldn’t recommend too much of equity allocation for such funds because it is better to allocate them in low risk products till you attain financial comfort.
Besides FDs, even monthly income plans or balanced funds can be another option. When the corpus is huge, it is not a bad idea to allocate a portion of this corpus towards an insurance product. This will also ensure economic comfort to the family in the event of any eventuality.
The PF and gratuity corpus can also be used to supplement your monthly cash flow. Two products – monthly income plans or systematic withdrawals can meet this requirement.
While monthly income plans provide annual returns of 10-14%, systematic withdrawals allow you to withdraw a fixed sum on a monthly basis.
For the later, the corpus needs to be slightly large. For instance, an investment of Rs 25 lakhs invested in a balanced fund can allow an investor to withdraw Rs 10,000-20,000 on a monthly basis besides providing capital appreciation.
In the initial years of entrepreneurship, this can come in handy when the business fails to generate the required cash flow for your personal needs.
Srikala Bhashyam is a financial journalist with 13 years of experience across financial publications. The author can be contacted at srikala.bhashyam@gmail.com
want to earn residual income,visit: www.kannanviswagandhi.com
for self development,visit: http://www.growing-self.blogspot.com
How Naresh Goyal Built Jet Airways
How Naresh Goyal built Jet Airways
Tara Weiss, Forbes July 24, 2007
Naresh Goyal might not have the height or the hair of Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson, but he's certainly got his fellow airline owner's charisma.
The founder and chairman of Mumbai-based Jet Airways was in New York for one of his "road shows," part of a campaign to introduce Americans to the 14-year-old airline that begins service from Newark, N.J. to Europe and India next month.
He met with reporters in his suite at the Waldorf-Astoria, showering them with compliments and hearty laughs.
He says he can't be compared to Branson because unlike his British counterpart, he's not the face of the brand. That may be true, but like Branson, Goyal built Jet Airways from the ground up.
Goyal started working in the airline industry right after college in his great uncle's marketing agency for Lebanese International Airlines. His salary was so low -- $40 per month -- that he had to sleep on the floor of his office.
But he moved up the ranks quickly, becoming a publicist for the airline and from there, moving on to other international airlines.
After a few years, he started Jet Air, a marketing organization that represented several international airlines in India. His mother sold her own jewelry to give him money to start the business.
In the early '90s, he looked into buying an airline in Scotland since there was no "national" carrier there, but his plan came to nothing. At home, though, things were changing.
From 1953 until 1992, the only airlines allowed to be based in India were owned and operated by the government. They were less than hospitable -- there were no printed schedules, and service was abominable.
"They [thought they] were doing you a favor to carry you from point A to point B," says Goyal. But when the government opened the airline industry to private competition, Goyal jumped at the opportunity.
"There was a huge market for good value and a high level of service in a marketplace that had never seen that before," says Bob Mann, an airline consultant with R.W. Mann & Company. "He got in front of the wave before it reached the shore."
Goyal now runs an airline that flies from India to 50 destinations. Starting in August, Jet Airways will have a European hub in Brussels.
Goyal still remains true to his marketing roots, which were showcased in a lavish press conference recently.
He might not be able to bring one of the airline's Boeing 777s into the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria to show off the upgraded cabins of Jet Airlines, but he did the next best thing: He brought life-size replicas of the cabins and showed off the flight attendants' newly designed mustard-colored ensembles.
Goyal markets service and comfort as the keys to his airline. For about $10,000, passengers in first class get a private suite, complete with closing doors; a full bed; a flat-screen television; and a meal that might be served at a top restaurant in any city. Business and coach offer levels of comfort too, with televisions and ergonomically designed chairs.
This isn't entirely new, says Mann. The Dubai-based airline Emirates and Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, both have first-class closed-door cabins. Plus, there's lots of competition from the likes of Virgin and British Airways, which also fly to India.
But with globalization and India's economy opening up, Goyal is counting not only on the Indian diaspora looking to travel around the world, but businesspeople who increasingly need to go to the Indian subcontinent for work. "The demand has been pent up for a long time," says Mann.
Goyal recently sat down with Forbes.com to discuss his airline's past and future.
Forbes.com: Are you the Richard Branson of India?
Goyal: No. I don't want to follow someone else, but he is a very dear friend of mine. We know each other through the industry. He's the best marketing person in airlines. He is the Virgin brand. I don't want to be the brand because an organization lasts longer than the individual. The institution is there for a long time to come, while individuals come and go.
Our airlines work together very closely. We bring traffic from India to London and transfer them to him. We have a commercial alliance.
How did you pick Newark as the first American destination for Jet Airways?
We found there's less congestion at Newark after you leave the airport than at JFK. Eventually we'll fly to both because both airports are important. If I have a choice, I fly into Newark.
After Newark, there's a lot more North American expansion planned. Some observers say it's too fast, but you don't agree. Why?
There is traffic already. You don't have to do anything and traffic exists. There are 2.5 million Indian-Americans living in the U.S. We want to serve that population. Also, Indian companies are becoming global. People in the west used to think India is something hidden. Today, U.S. companies have so much interest in India.
Next is Toronto on September 5. There are 800,000 Indians in Canada. We'll start service to JFK, San Francisco, Chicago and L.A. in the next year.
There are so many options in the airline industry. Why would someone pick Jet Airways?
Service is everything. I'm paying $750 per day to stay here [the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel] and there's lousy service. I ordered my breakfast at 9 a.m. and my breakfast never came. I went hungry. This would never happen in India. Hospitality is in our blood -- to look after our guests. Even if you come from a poor family, the lady of the house will offer you tea or coffee.
In terms of American passenger-airlines service, they dump people from one point to another. With us, you get a hot meal within a half hour of takeoff. It's a three-course meal in every section of the airplane -- even in coach.
What about pricing?
We are not here to get into fare wars. We are here to give you the best product, which hopefully no other airline gives you.
Your flight attendants are outfitted by a fashion designer, three-course meals are served in all sections and you're pouring Dom Perignon to passengers in first class. How can you afford that without raising prices?
Productivity. It's higher and better than other carriers. Our cost ratio in the aircraft is one of the lowest in the world. We have created high morale for our people. Our employees believe in the company. They believe it's their company. There's a feeling among employees that if the company makes money, it's their money and if the company loses money, that's their loss.
With your love of airlines, have you ever learned how to fly an airplane?
No, I can't even drive a car. I don't even know how to swim.
Why do you enjoy the airline industry?
It connects cultures. You make friends. And, of course, there's a certain glamour in this business.
For residual income,visit: www.kannanviswagandhi.com
for self development,visit: http://www.growing-self.blogspot.com
Tara Weiss, Forbes July 24, 2007
Naresh Goyal might not have the height or the hair of Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson, but he's certainly got his fellow airline owner's charisma.
The founder and chairman of Mumbai-based Jet Airways was in New York for one of his "road shows," part of a campaign to introduce Americans to the 14-year-old airline that begins service from Newark, N.J. to Europe and India next month.
He met with reporters in his suite at the Waldorf-Astoria, showering them with compliments and hearty laughs.
He says he can't be compared to Branson because unlike his British counterpart, he's not the face of the brand. That may be true, but like Branson, Goyal built Jet Airways from the ground up.
Goyal started working in the airline industry right after college in his great uncle's marketing agency for Lebanese International Airlines. His salary was so low -- $40 per month -- that he had to sleep on the floor of his office.
But he moved up the ranks quickly, becoming a publicist for the airline and from there, moving on to other international airlines.
After a few years, he started Jet Air, a marketing organization that represented several international airlines in India. His mother sold her own jewelry to give him money to start the business.
In the early '90s, he looked into buying an airline in Scotland since there was no "national" carrier there, but his plan came to nothing. At home, though, things were changing.
From 1953 until 1992, the only airlines allowed to be based in India were owned and operated by the government. They were less than hospitable -- there were no printed schedules, and service was abominable.
"They [thought they] were doing you a favor to carry you from point A to point B," says Goyal. But when the government opened the airline industry to private competition, Goyal jumped at the opportunity.
"There was a huge market for good value and a high level of service in a marketplace that had never seen that before," says Bob Mann, an airline consultant with R.W. Mann & Company. "He got in front of the wave before it reached the shore."
Goyal now runs an airline that flies from India to 50 destinations. Starting in August, Jet Airways will have a European hub in Brussels.
Goyal still remains true to his marketing roots, which were showcased in a lavish press conference recently.
He might not be able to bring one of the airline's Boeing 777s into the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria to show off the upgraded cabins of Jet Airlines, but he did the next best thing: He brought life-size replicas of the cabins and showed off the flight attendants' newly designed mustard-colored ensembles.
Goyal markets service and comfort as the keys to his airline. For about $10,000, passengers in first class get a private suite, complete with closing doors; a full bed; a flat-screen television; and a meal that might be served at a top restaurant in any city. Business and coach offer levels of comfort too, with televisions and ergonomically designed chairs.
This isn't entirely new, says Mann. The Dubai-based airline Emirates and Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, both have first-class closed-door cabins. Plus, there's lots of competition from the likes of Virgin and British Airways, which also fly to India.
But with globalization and India's economy opening up, Goyal is counting not only on the Indian diaspora looking to travel around the world, but businesspeople who increasingly need to go to the Indian subcontinent for work. "The demand has been pent up for a long time," says Mann.
Goyal recently sat down with Forbes.com to discuss his airline's past and future.
Forbes.com: Are you the Richard Branson of India?
Goyal: No. I don't want to follow someone else, but he is a very dear friend of mine. We know each other through the industry. He's the best marketing person in airlines. He is the Virgin brand. I don't want to be the brand because an organization lasts longer than the individual. The institution is there for a long time to come, while individuals come and go.
Our airlines work together very closely. We bring traffic from India to London and transfer them to him. We have a commercial alliance.
How did you pick Newark as the first American destination for Jet Airways?
We found there's less congestion at Newark after you leave the airport than at JFK. Eventually we'll fly to both because both airports are important. If I have a choice, I fly into Newark.
After Newark, there's a lot more North American expansion planned. Some observers say it's too fast, but you don't agree. Why?
There is traffic already. You don't have to do anything and traffic exists. There are 2.5 million Indian-Americans living in the U.S. We want to serve that population. Also, Indian companies are becoming global. People in the west used to think India is something hidden. Today, U.S. companies have so much interest in India.
Next is Toronto on September 5. There are 800,000 Indians in Canada. We'll start service to JFK, San Francisco, Chicago and L.A. in the next year.
There are so many options in the airline industry. Why would someone pick Jet Airways?
Service is everything. I'm paying $750 per day to stay here [the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel] and there's lousy service. I ordered my breakfast at 9 a.m. and my breakfast never came. I went hungry. This would never happen in India. Hospitality is in our blood -- to look after our guests. Even if you come from a poor family, the lady of the house will offer you tea or coffee.
In terms of American passenger-airlines service, they dump people from one point to another. With us, you get a hot meal within a half hour of takeoff. It's a three-course meal in every section of the airplane -- even in coach.
What about pricing?
We are not here to get into fare wars. We are here to give you the best product, which hopefully no other airline gives you.
Your flight attendants are outfitted by a fashion designer, three-course meals are served in all sections and you're pouring Dom Perignon to passengers in first class. How can you afford that without raising prices?
Productivity. It's higher and better than other carriers. Our cost ratio in the aircraft is one of the lowest in the world. We have created high morale for our people. Our employees believe in the company. They believe it's their company. There's a feeling among employees that if the company makes money, it's their money and if the company loses money, that's their loss.
With your love of airlines, have you ever learned how to fly an airplane?
No, I can't even drive a car. I don't even know how to swim.
Why do you enjoy the airline industry?
It connects cultures. You make friends. And, of course, there's a certain glamour in this business.
For residual income,visit: www.kannanviswagandhi.com
for self development,visit: http://www.growing-self.blogspot.com
Monday, July 23, 2007
Rags To Riches Story
Rags to Riches
Hurricane Katrina left Jerome Boykin jobless and aimless. Now he runs a growing cleaning business. How visiting a shopping mall parking lot changed everything.
Thrilling tales of entrepreneurs, in the Internet age, often sound similar: College kid concocts innovative idea. Pulls all-nighters to build a prototype. Writes business plan, begs and borrows for funding, eventually launches. The sequence of events has been a bit different for Jerome Boykin Jr., whose thriving company cleans parking lots outside big retail stores. Boykin, 23, was entering grad school--in New Orleans--when Hurricane Katrina sent him, jobless and aimless, to his parents' house in Houma, Louisiana. To get him off the couch, Jerome's father, Jerome Boykin Sr., a local NAACP president, took him to watch a mall parking lot being cleaned and suggested it might be a profitable business. Boykin now keeps lots tidy in eight parishes, and his company brings in half a million dollars a year. He does pull all-nighters; that's when the lots are swept. And--typical these days--he's got his own ideas for what might be big on the Web.
Hurricanes are nothing new to us down here. I went to my parents' home thinking it was going to be a couple of days. They didn't let us go back to New Orleans for a week or two. When I got to my apartment, I didn't have anything. All my clothes and shoes had mildew. The ceiling came down. The walls were purple and green. For two or three months after, I was at home not doing anything. I was down because all my friends were gone, out of town, or moved away. I was watching TV. I was reading magazines. I wasn't looking for a job.
My daddy knew where my mind was because of Katrina. He told me to meet him in the mall parking lot at midnight. It was November. My dad was, like, "You got a degree. You need to do something with yourself!" I was looking at this guy with this big sweeper truck sweeping up the parking lot. He asked me what I thought about the business, and I was, like, "I'm not doing that. Ain't no way!"
In Houma, there was only one guy cleaning parking lots, for 10, 15, 20 years. He had a monopoly. My daddy found out about it from a friend of his. He tried to bring me to the water but he couldn't make me drink. I had to talk to the store manager at Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), Victor Ladner. Victor told me that he was unsatisfied with the guy that was cleaning his parking lot and told me how much he was paying him. I couldn't believe it: It was between $3,200 and $3,800 a month for just that one store. The light bulb blew up in my head. I was, like, "I'm sold." He said, basically, "If you buy a sweeper truck, then I will give you the contract."
We didn't know how to operate a truck. We didn't know where to get the truck. We didn't know nothing. We just knew we had to get into the business. I got on the Internet and did some research on sweeper trucks. I found a dealer in Alabama and asked him a bunch of questions. Within 30 days, I got a truck. The truck cost about $75,000. My dad helped because I didn't have any credit.
When I was three, my father was hit by a drunk driver. He had surgery on his back and was forced to retire. With the money from the lawsuit, he made a lot of good investments in real estate. He knows a loan officer at the bank, and he put two of his rental properties up as collateral for my loan. It took two or three weeks for me to get my Wal-Mart vendor's number. I had to get $2 million insurance, a million-dollar liability, workers' comp. They asked for a lot.
I was kind of nervous because I was only used to driving a Chevy Malibu. I didn't know how to drive a stick. Once I got in, it got a lot easier. It's just like a regular car. You kick it in drive, and you go. You press a button to vacuum up the trash: Pampers, bottles, pieces of lumber.
The biggest problem out there is gum. I find money in the parking lot. I found a used 19-inch TV. I found a brand-new drum set. The store manager said I could keep it, so I gave it to the church. Earlier this year, I found a big bag of marijuana with $400 in it. I gave that to a cop. The cops always tell me I'm a good citizen.
I have nine Wal-Marts now. I do nine or 10 parking lots myself every night. I have two sweeper trucks. The first will be paid off by the end of this summer. I'm about to buy another truck next month. When I started cleaning for Victor, I cleaned that Wal-Mart so good that other people started noticing. And he started spreading the word. I don't have my company name on any of my trucks; I don't advertise. My company grows by word of mouth. Store managers tell other store managers--Target (NYSE:TGT), Home Depot (NYSE:HD), Lowe's (NYSE:LOW). Now I take their name and number and tell them I'll let them know when I get another truck
I didn't expect this to blow up so fast. It just exploded. Maybe it's going too fast. When I first got into this business, I thought, "I'll be good with $10,000 a month," and my ultimate goal was $25,000 to $30,000. I reached my ultimate goal in four or five months.
People laugh and are, like, "Yo! You got a degree! And you're picking up trash?" They just don't know that my company makes $45,000 a month.
I've hired a few guys--eight--but it's a challenge training them. I have a routine, and it's hard to get those guys to understand the way that I want it done. I don't leave it up to them to make sure the lots are clean because that's how these other sweeping companies were losing contracts. They were hiring guys that would be there for 20 minutes, and then they'd be gone. One guy fell asleep in his truck and ran it into a restaurant!
I still go and check just about all 15 stores. New Orleans is an hour away and every night I go behind those guys and check my stores in Houma and drive to New Orleans and check all of those stores and come back home at 6, 7, 8 in the morning. Even if I get up to 20 Wal-Marts, I'll try to go to all 20.
My main goal is to make the store managers happy in the morning. They talk to each other. I am in about eight parishes now, and I'm ready to go into the Baton Rouge market. Within two years, I can see JB Sweeping in all the major cities of Louisiana. In five years, JB Sweeping will expand outside the state.
If you had asked me when I was in school what I thought I would be doing, I would have said getting a franchise, a Subway or something. I just wanted to work for myself and work my own hours. You know, do my own thing. I never thought in a million years I would be doing this.
The dot-com thing is totally different. It eases my mind. When I only had two or three stores, I bought a website for $1,000. Everyface.com. It's a social networking site--when a member joins, their face goes on the homepage. I was looking to set the record of one million faces on one homepage. Once I started to get more people, I had to update the server. I had to put more money into the project. I needed a person to stand by so if it crashed someone would be there to lift it up. I sold it for about $6,000. Right now I have a wedding website being built.
Going out--I never really think about it because this is my future. This is how I eat. This is something that could move into something big. Hanging out with my friends and going to the club, I'm not too worried about. My main focus is the business.
Ever since September, when this article came out about me in my hometown paper, they're starting to catch on. People shake my hand and try to hook me up with their daughters. "I have someone you should meet." I get a lot of that.
Hurricane Katrina left Jerome Boykin jobless and aimless. Now he runs a growing cleaning business. How visiting a shopping mall parking lot changed everything.
Thrilling tales of entrepreneurs, in the Internet age, often sound similar: College kid concocts innovative idea. Pulls all-nighters to build a prototype. Writes business plan, begs and borrows for funding, eventually launches. The sequence of events has been a bit different for Jerome Boykin Jr., whose thriving company cleans parking lots outside big retail stores. Boykin, 23, was entering grad school--in New Orleans--when Hurricane Katrina sent him, jobless and aimless, to his parents' house in Houma, Louisiana. To get him off the couch, Jerome's father, Jerome Boykin Sr., a local NAACP president, took him to watch a mall parking lot being cleaned and suggested it might be a profitable business. Boykin now keeps lots tidy in eight parishes, and his company brings in half a million dollars a year. He does pull all-nighters; that's when the lots are swept. And--typical these days--he's got his own ideas for what might be big on the Web.
Hurricanes are nothing new to us down here. I went to my parents' home thinking it was going to be a couple of days. They didn't let us go back to New Orleans for a week or two. When I got to my apartment, I didn't have anything. All my clothes and shoes had mildew. The ceiling came down. The walls were purple and green. For two or three months after, I was at home not doing anything. I was down because all my friends were gone, out of town, or moved away. I was watching TV. I was reading magazines. I wasn't looking for a job.
My daddy knew where my mind was because of Katrina. He told me to meet him in the mall parking lot at midnight. It was November. My dad was, like, "You got a degree. You need to do something with yourself!" I was looking at this guy with this big sweeper truck sweeping up the parking lot. He asked me what I thought about the business, and I was, like, "I'm not doing that. Ain't no way!"
In Houma, there was only one guy cleaning parking lots, for 10, 15, 20 years. He had a monopoly. My daddy found out about it from a friend of his. He tried to bring me to the water but he couldn't make me drink. I had to talk to the store manager at Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), Victor Ladner. Victor told me that he was unsatisfied with the guy that was cleaning his parking lot and told me how much he was paying him. I couldn't believe it: It was between $3,200 and $3,800 a month for just that one store. The light bulb blew up in my head. I was, like, "I'm sold." He said, basically, "If you buy a sweeper truck, then I will give you the contract."
We didn't know how to operate a truck. We didn't know where to get the truck. We didn't know nothing. We just knew we had to get into the business. I got on the Internet and did some research on sweeper trucks. I found a dealer in Alabama and asked him a bunch of questions. Within 30 days, I got a truck. The truck cost about $75,000. My dad helped because I didn't have any credit.
When I was three, my father was hit by a drunk driver. He had surgery on his back and was forced to retire. With the money from the lawsuit, he made a lot of good investments in real estate. He knows a loan officer at the bank, and he put two of his rental properties up as collateral for my loan. It took two or three weeks for me to get my Wal-Mart vendor's number. I had to get $2 million insurance, a million-dollar liability, workers' comp. They asked for a lot.
I was kind of nervous because I was only used to driving a Chevy Malibu. I didn't know how to drive a stick. Once I got in, it got a lot easier. It's just like a regular car. You kick it in drive, and you go. You press a button to vacuum up the trash: Pampers, bottles, pieces of lumber.
The biggest problem out there is gum. I find money in the parking lot. I found a used 19-inch TV. I found a brand-new drum set. The store manager said I could keep it, so I gave it to the church. Earlier this year, I found a big bag of marijuana with $400 in it. I gave that to a cop. The cops always tell me I'm a good citizen.
I have nine Wal-Marts now. I do nine or 10 parking lots myself every night. I have two sweeper trucks. The first will be paid off by the end of this summer. I'm about to buy another truck next month. When I started cleaning for Victor, I cleaned that Wal-Mart so good that other people started noticing. And he started spreading the word. I don't have my company name on any of my trucks; I don't advertise. My company grows by word of mouth. Store managers tell other store managers--Target (NYSE:TGT), Home Depot (NYSE:HD), Lowe's (NYSE:LOW). Now I take their name and number and tell them I'll let them know when I get another truck
I didn't expect this to blow up so fast. It just exploded. Maybe it's going too fast. When I first got into this business, I thought, "I'll be good with $10,000 a month," and my ultimate goal was $25,000 to $30,000. I reached my ultimate goal in four or five months.
People laugh and are, like, "Yo! You got a degree! And you're picking up trash?" They just don't know that my company makes $45,000 a month.
I've hired a few guys--eight--but it's a challenge training them. I have a routine, and it's hard to get those guys to understand the way that I want it done. I don't leave it up to them to make sure the lots are clean because that's how these other sweeping companies were losing contracts. They were hiring guys that would be there for 20 minutes, and then they'd be gone. One guy fell asleep in his truck and ran it into a restaurant!
I still go and check just about all 15 stores. New Orleans is an hour away and every night I go behind those guys and check my stores in Houma and drive to New Orleans and check all of those stores and come back home at 6, 7, 8 in the morning. Even if I get up to 20 Wal-Marts, I'll try to go to all 20.
My main goal is to make the store managers happy in the morning. They talk to each other. I am in about eight parishes now, and I'm ready to go into the Baton Rouge market. Within two years, I can see JB Sweeping in all the major cities of Louisiana. In five years, JB Sweeping will expand outside the state.
If you had asked me when I was in school what I thought I would be doing, I would have said getting a franchise, a Subway or something. I just wanted to work for myself and work my own hours. You know, do my own thing. I never thought in a million years I would be doing this.
The dot-com thing is totally different. It eases my mind. When I only had two or three stores, I bought a website for $1,000. Everyface.com. It's a social networking site--when a member joins, their face goes on the homepage. I was looking to set the record of one million faces on one homepage. Once I started to get more people, I had to update the server. I had to put more money into the project. I needed a person to stand by so if it crashed someone would be there to lift it up. I sold it for about $6,000. Right now I have a wedding website being built.
Going out--I never really think about it because this is my future. This is how I eat. This is something that could move into something big. Hanging out with my friends and going to the club, I'm not too worried about. My main focus is the business.
Ever since September, when this article came out about me in my hometown paper, they're starting to catch on. People shake my hand and try to hook me up with their daughters. "I have someone you should meet." I get a lot of that.
Want to earn residual income,visit: http://www.kannanviswagandhi.com/
For personal development,visit: http://www.growing-self.blogspot.com
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